Things You Can Do….When You’re a Grown Up

Made by Marcus, 1013 17th Avenue, SW.  You have to go there.



I just finished my dinner. It was delicious; I loved every bite of it.

It was a sugar cone, coated on the inside with chocolate.  Filled with Tahitian Vanilla Bean ice cream and covered in more chocolate, then rolled in graham crumbs, it’s finally covered in marshmallow. When ordered, the marshmallow is then torched. Is essence, I was eating a frozen s’more.



OMG, it was good.

When I first got to 17th Avenue, the first evening I was out, I went for a walk, and saw the line for the very first time.  I should have known then that there was no possible way that Made by Marcus would not become a regular stop on my dining adventure.

The first night I tried it, I had gone to dinner first, and that was a mistake.  The single scoop cones are enough for meal in themselves.  And that’s when I got it into my head that grown-ups can have ice cream for dinner. Or breakfast.  Or another time we want.  Ha!

All those years of being told to finish your vegetables, to eat your meat, to “just try it”?  Out the window.

Now, I realize that an ice cream parlour doesn’t exactly fit in the parameters I’ve set out for this blog, but anyone who has been to Made by Marcus will agree that an exception has to be made in this instance.

Night after night, lines snake around the block; I should mention that Marcus is at the end of my street, so I see it every day, whether coming in from work or when I go out for a walk or on an errand or to eat…I can’t think of a day when I haven’t seen a line.



People wait 20 to 30 minutes or more for a turn at the counter.

All I know about Marcus—yes, there really is one—is that he is the super tall guy you can see in the kitchen at the back from time to time, stirring batches of exotic flavours, rolling waffle cones, generally doing anything it takes to run his micro creamery.

And the flavours?  Here are just a few I have tried (now in fairness, I should say that I have had little samples of several of these, and friends I have brought in with me have had some too, but yes, I have tried a lot of them):
  • Jalapeño peach  
  • Lemoncurd blueberry
  • Roasted strawberry buttermilk
  • Oatmeal Cookie Dough
  • Black Cherry Amaretto
  • Hay-smoked Sakatoon berry (this was a Stampede special—very unique)
  • The Happy Camper (essentially the cone I had tonight, in a cup).
There are many more....between heading there with friends and my own, I've gone through two punch cards for freebies--tonight's was a freebie.

Once I realized how big the cones were, I made Made by Marcus a dinner stop on nights when I wasn’t overly hungry, or when I was tired and needed something to fill the hole.  Or when I felt like having ice cream. Like tonight.

This evening came up quickly after a long day.  It started with work, and then I went to take possession of my new apartment.

Up on the hill. In the burbs, but not too far from downtown, and I can see it from there as I am up on the hill. I do love it--I knew it was the right place as soon as I walked in the door-- and it's the first home I've ever owned by myself (that only took a few decades...).

My new view.  The Red Mile is down there in the distance, somewhere.

But I now realize I love being here  in the middle of the action too.  In the next few weeks, I’ll be slowly moving my stuff from 17th to the west hill.  Summer will end and fall will kick in. Some of the great places I’ve been to will survive, and others will not.

But I consider myself lucky.  I can come back, and I will.  AND...I still have several weeks left to finish my 17x17x17 quest.  

So stay tuned-there’s lots more to come!

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